Empty
by Cherubic Sasami
Summary: Ever since his last mission, Heero's been acting strangely. He won't leave his room, and his eyes seem dull and lifeless. To make matters stranger, Duo has never returned from the last mission. What's going on? Divided into 2 parts. Rated PG-13 for vi
1. Empty: Part 1

Legal notes: I don't own Gundam Wing, its characters, names, etc. They are owned by their respective... uh... people. I do, strangely enough, own my thoughts, ideas and manic chimera. So if you are DESPERATE enough to want to steal my ideas and use them as your own, please refrain. Arigato.  
  
Empty  
  
Heero's hand quivered as he looked at the scene in front of him. "I'm sorry." The flames rose up, as if trying to touch the sky. "I didn't mean to leave you." Another explosion and the sparks began to fly. "Forgive me Duo, it wasn't supposed to end like this."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Quatre sipped his tea nervously as he looked at the clock. It was nearing 10 o'clock and there was still no sign of Heero or Duo. 'They've never been this late before. I hope they're all right. Blowing up a base shouldn't be that difficult unless...' Quatre shivered as he considered all the things that could possibly go wrong. 'Heero, Duo, if you can hear me, protect yourselves and return in one piece.'  
  
Suddenly, as if in response to his prayers, he heard the mighty roar of a Gundam's engine overhead. The only problem was that he only heard one.  
  
Quatre took another sip of the bitter Earl Grey and waited anxiously for the door to open. 'Please, let there be two people there. Oh please, let it not just be-' Heero walked through the door, shutting it behind him.   
  
Immediately, Quatre noticed that there was something different about Heero. Something that hadn't been there before, or perhaps, a lack of something that had. His face, though normally pale, had an eerie pallor. His hands, once firm with the courage of a man, now shook like a scared child's. Then, there were his eyes. Quatre winced as he looked straight into Heero's eyes. The eyes that once burned with cobalt flame now stared back at him with a cloud of emotionless death.  
  
'What happened?' Quatre yearned to ask. 'Where's Duo?' He took another quick glance at Heero's unfeeling eyes. 'What could've possibly happened to make him so... so... empty?'  
  
As Quatre pondered the many questions he wanted to ask Heero, the disgruntled pilot sauntered toward his room, and, with a definitive slam of the door, left Quatre spellbound in wonder.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Days passed and Duo never came home. Likewise, Heero never emerged from his room. He didn't come out to eat. He didn't even come out to go to the bathroom. The other pilots were about to announce him legally dead, when...  
  
It was feint, but Wufei could still hear it. In the midst of his meditations he could hear the quiet squeal of a rusty door hinge. But it wasn't just any door being opened; it was the door to Heero's room.   
  
With an annoyed grunt, he opened his eyes to see what was going on. 'Could Quatre and Trowa be so disrespectful as to go into Heero's room?' After surveying the living room, a tiny beam of light caught his eye. As his eyes adjusted to the sudden light, he could begin to decipher the form that stood at the top of the stairs. "Yuy..."  
  
Oblivious to Wufei's existence, Heero stepped slowly down the wooden stairs, never once taking his eyes away from the silver candle he held with his right hand. When he'd reached the end of the stairs, Heero knelt down to the cold, wooden floor, placing the brass candlestick in front of him. Wufei took a cautious step closer, trying to see what Heero could be doing. The Wing pilot shifted his glance and began to stare at his trembling hands.   
  
Wufei stared into the once Perfect Soldier's eyes. They were bloodshot and swollen from tears. His skin was pale and tight against his protruding cheekbones. It was obvious that the Wing pilot was merely a shell of his former self, but why?  
  
Heero picked up the rouge flame once more and returned to his feet. As he turned to leave, however, he placed the candle on a nearby table. Again, Heero looked solemnly at his hands. Grabbing his left arm with his right hand, he placed it over the candle, covering the flame. "The stains of an innocent's blood never disappear unless the death is reconciled. Mission: accepted." With that, he climbed the stairs and returned to his bedroom.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Trowa skimmed through the mail as he sat down at the kitchen table. 'Junk, junk, bill, junk...' He sighed. There was no mail for him today. As he got up to stir his cheese fondue, he noticed a letter sitting on the table. It was addressed to Heero. 'Hm, no return address,' he noted with a shrug. 'Oh well, even if he is dead, I probably should give it to him.'  
  
With a quick stir of the cheddar glop, he walked upstairs. From outside the door, he could hear the feint sounds of life. 'I guess Wufei's right... for once.' He was about to knock on the door when he stopped abruptly. 'Maybe Heero just needs some time alone. Whatever happened really hit his persona... hard.' So instead, Trowa slipped the white envelope under the door and listened. There was a pause, then the sound of footsteps. Finally, there was the sound of paper being ripped, another pause, and the infamous Heero Yuy opened the door and stepped out.  
Trowa's eyes widened as he looked at the "new" Heero. This Heero who stood before him looked more ghost than human, with large, sunken eyes and bony waistline. Heero looked back at Trowa with animosity.   
  
"What were you doing outside my door?" Heero growled.  
"Something came in the mail for you," Trowa replied, avoiding the question.   
"Hn." Heero pushed past his lanky comrade and stomped down the stairs.  
  
Trowa stood in his same spot. 'Should I follow him? He shouldn't be going out in the kind of mental state he's in.' When he heard the sound of Wing Zero's rocket overhead, however, he knew what he had to do. 'Forgive me Heero, this is the only way.' But as walked toward Heavyarm's hanger, he was stopped by the 'clip, clip' sound of boots on a metal floor. He turned around, his gun pointed to the sound's source. "Stop where you are and no one gets hurt." But what he saw brought horror to his heart.  
  
"Hey buddy! What're you pointing that thing at me for?" exclaimed a familiar, short boy with a meter long braid.  
  
*~*~*  
  
So what'd y'all think? Am I evil to leave you hanging, or what? Stay tuned for part 2 of "Empty", coming very soon! (It's written I thought I'd just do this to torture you... mwahahaha... : ) )  



	2. Empty: Part 2

Legal notes: Same as always, I own nothing.  
  
Empty: Part 2  
  
Heero skimmed the mission statement again and sighed. The mission was simple, destroy the OZ military base through any means necessary. But then again, his last mission had seemed that simple too. 'Damn it. Why can't I just let it go?' He could feel the involuntary response to his pain rise to the edges of his Prussian eyes.  
  
He looked down at the small, heavily protected base. The scene was all too familiar. As he jumped out of the cockpit in a nearby clearing, flashes of deja vous pulsed through his brain and into his heart, causing him to shiver. Something black caught the corner of his eye. Turning around, he half expected to see his exuberant partner run up from behind him, but was sad to find that it was only a small tree, black from electrocution or fire. Annoyed, he kicked the charred sapling.   
  
*~*~*  
  
Trowa took a step back from where Duo stood. "But I-er, we thought you were-"  
"Dead?" chimed the cocky Shinigami. He stopped to think for a second. "Yeah, I guess that would kind of make sense. But Trowa," he paused again, trying to explain, "you can't kill death."  
"But, if you're not dead? What happened? Where were you?"  
Duo winked mischievously. "Now I can't go around telling all my secrets, can I? I'll tell you what happened, but only because I'm a nice guy."  
"You can explain later. Right now, Heero needs your help."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Heero stepped down the lonely corridor, holding his left shoulder. 'Why was it so difficult to get by those guards? I never thought having him around made such a difference.' He stopped in mid-thought. 'Him... Why is it that I can't even think his name anymore?' Feeling suddenly startled, he sprinted down the hallway. 'I have to get away from this feeling. It wasn't my fault. Damn it, it wasn't my fault!'  
  
He stopped when he reached the control room and casually walked inside. 'But it all ends here. My pain, my suffering, my guilt, it ends with the press of this button. Duo, I'll be joining you shortly.'  
  
*~*~*  
  
Trowa raised his eyebrow as he listened to Duo's story. "I hardly believe that Heero's that careless."  
  
Duo shrugged with indifference. "He's not careless, it was my fault really. I was just so busy gunning down OZ patrols; I totally forgot about everything else. I've got to admit, I get a high off of seeing them die."  
  
"So where were you when the bombs went off?"  
"I was in the control room. I had hoped to disarm the security units to make for an easy get away before the time bombs we'd planted went off. I never got that far."  
Trowa looked down at the chaotic OZ base. "I think I've found him and I'm pretty sure we're not too late."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Heero laughed maniacally as he programmed the bombs' timers. '5 minutes. I'll give those damn OZ soldiers 5 minutes to try and stop me.' He laughed more. 'By the time they find me, the bombs will detonate, destroying us all and completing my mission.'  
  
*~*~*  
  
Duo ran down the endless hallway following Trowa's lead. 'Heero, you can never do anything quietly can you?' he though with a smirk. They'd found him quite easily after hearing his voice shouting insanely over the intercom.   
  
"Come on OZ," he'd beckoned, "come and get me! I'm in the control room right now! Catch me OZ, unless you're a bunch a cowards!"  
In the midst of the commotion, Trowa and Duo had been able to sneak in unnoticed. Duo looked up at Trowa. "Do you think we'll be able to make it in time?"  
"We will if you run faster," replied Trowa, who was obviously holding back to allow his temporary partner to keep up.  
Duo sighed, but quickened his pace. Finally, they reached the control room. "Heero!" Duo shouted on impulse. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"  
Heero whipped around and stared deep into Duo's lilac eyes. "Duo..." he whispered. "Is that... you?"  
"Yeah Heero, it's me!"  
  
Heero clutched his head and turned back around. "No..." he cried. "No, that's not Duo. It's just... It's just my mind playing tricks on me." He turned back around to face his chestnut haired partner. "Why are you doing this to me?" he screamed. "Why don't you leave me alone?! Let me die in piece!" Heero tried to lash out at Duo, but was stopped by the arms of Trowa.  
  
"Heero," Trowa began. "You've got to listen to us. Duo never died. You can resume life with a clear conscious."  
Heero stepped back and looked at Trowa's stern face. Then he glanced over at Duo, who was still covering his eyes, anticipating a blow to the face. Suddenly, as if Trowa's words had finally sunken in, Heero smiled, "I'm glad."  
Duo stood up. "Glad to have you back Heero."  
After a few seconds of calm silence, Heero's face turned dark. "You've got to get out of here. These bombs are set to go off any second now."  
"You? Shouldn't it be we?" Duo asked, puzzled.  
"I gave myself a mission. If I don't complete it, I'll never forgive myself."  
"But Heero, I'm here! I'm okay! You're clean of sin!"  
"Stop giving yourself an ego boost, this isn't just for you. This mission is for all the innocent lives I've taken. This mission is my penance."  
Trowa turned around from his place at the door. "We've got to get going or else we'll all be joining in your reconciliation."  
Duo turned to run toward Trowa, but sensing that Heero wasn't following, he grabbed the Perfect Soldier's wrist and sprinted down the hall toward the exit.   
  
*~*~*  
  
Trowa looked back to find Duo, dragging Heero along like a girl with a rag doll. 'Why does he even bother saving Heero? If he let go he could run twice as fast.' He smiled. 'But then again, Duo always has been the stubborn one...'   
  
The light at the end was getting closer. 'Don't be too confident Trowa. Those bombs could go off any second.' Suddenly, he heard a yelp, a thud and then the diminishing sound of running footsteps from behind. 'Shit, what's wrong now.' He stopped and turned around. Duo was crumpled in a heap and Heero was gone. 'Or maybe Heero was the stubborn one.'  
  
Trowa hoisted Duo on his shoulders nonchalantly and sprinted on toward the exit. Duo was hurt, but obviously not unconscious. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" screamed the petite pilot. "We've got to go back to save Heero!" But Trowa continued on. "Trowa! Let me down! HEERO! HEERO COME BACK!"  
  
A voice came over the intercom. "I'm sorry Duo," Heero sighed. "But you must understand. I've lived too long with these bloody hands. Please, don't be sad. I'm finally going to be free."  
  
Finally, after much protest from Duo, he and Trowa made it outside to safety. "HEERO!" Duo cried. "Damn it Heero you're just too pure!" Sensing that Duo was about to run back in, Trowa pinned him to the ground.  
"Let him go, Duo. It's the only way."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Duo's hand quivered as he looked at the scene in front of him. "I'm sorry." The flames rose up, as if trying to touch the sky. "I didn't mean to leave you." Another explosion and the sparks began to fly. "Forgive me Heero, it wasn't supposed to end like this."  
The End?  
*~*~*  
  
Ooo, a circle fic! Fun, ne? Did you like it? Should I write a sequel? Tell me! Ja ne! ~ Cherubic Sasami  



End file.
